An enthusiastic June kicks off the tournament while principal Raja McGee looks on. “I grew up in a para full of boys, so I used to play football quite regularly,” smiled the actress. Pictures: Sayantan Ghosh

The rain-soaked grounds of Calcutta Boys’ School turned into a football arena on July 27 for an inter-school alumni tournament, Just For Kix 2013, presented by the Calcutta Boys’ School Old Boys’ Association (CBSOBA) in association with The Telegraph.

The tournament was the first of its kind to be hosted by the school. Alumni of eight city schools were invited for a meeting after the CBS reunion in February and preparations began soon after. Eight enthusiastic teams from The Frank Anthony Public School, St. Xavier’s Collegiate School, La Martiniere for Boys, Birla High School (Boys), The Park English School, Don Bosco-Park Circus, St. James’ School and the hosts participated in 15-minute matches.

Team ALSOC (Alumnorum Societas), the old boys’ association of St. Xavier’s, took the winner’s trophy defeating Team La Martiniere 1-0 in the final match

The tournament was inaugurated by school principal Raja McGee and actress June kicked it off. “We have tried to make it as active and alive as possible. I hope our venture is successful enough so that we can make this a tradition. This is as much about meeting new people as it is about playing in your own schoolground again,” said CBSOBA secretary Rahul Bose.

Saptarshi Dutta

pen power

The Presidency University Literary Society held a micro-fiction competition for new students on August 2 that saw 26 participants write 100-word stories in 20 minutes based on topics given on the spot. Professors Hiya Sen from the sociology department, and Sumit Chakrabarti and Anupama Mohan from the English department selected the winner, runner-up and second runner-up, who received Crossword Bookstore gift vouchers of Rs 400, Rs 300 and Rs 200, respectively.

“This is the inaugural event of the Society and I’m really happy to see so many people turn up,” said Titas Bose, a second-year student of English honours and the president of the Society. The contest was inspired by ‘Terribly Tiny Tales’ and its popularity on Facebook.

“It is a new concept. We got to try something new and it was a lot of fun,” said Debaparna Mukherjee, a first-year participant from the English department.

The top three articles will be published in Kindle and Muses Mischief magazines. Subhrojyati Mukherjee of the English department bagged the first prize for his piece Crème. Sambuddha Roy of English came second for Linger and Ipshita Kobiraj of history placed third for her write-up titled Condom.

Sanjana Ray

lse alumni meet

On July 27 London School of Economics and Political Science Alumni hosted an informal meet between ex-students and “offer holders” from eastern India at the British Club at the British Deputy High Commission.

The alumni, including state election commissioner Mira Pande, took turns to share some good ol’ memories. “LSE had the best library at the time and it helped in developing our interest in key issues. I found more material on gender studies and discrimination against women in India there than I did in journals in India,” said Pande, an MSc in social planning, batch of 1988. On London she said: “I was entranced to see the names of various streets we read about in books. Seeing Baker Street with my own eyes was different from reading about it in Conan Doyle’s books.”

British deputy high commissioner Sanjay Wadvani pitched in with important pointers about London life. “London can be expensive, depending on your choice of spending. There are many places in the city that are free, like the museums and parks. It is a great city for walking, so just explore.... There are street markets in every borough that serve good food and are pocket-friendly too,” he said.

“It is actually difficult to believe that London is not expensive, but I am really looking forward to it. LSE has been a dream. The fact that they own a pub is just so good,” gushed Sakshi Goenka, who is going to LSE for an MSc in economics. “This kind of a meet actually breaks the ice since many of these youngsters are venturing outside the country for the very first time. The main thing is to make the most of the months one spends there,” said Nayantara Palchoudhuri, LSE Alumni leader in eastern India. Sports writer and columnist Kishore Bhimani and LSE professor Sumantra Bose were also present at the meet.

Sneha Dutta
Picture: Sayantan Ghosh

ready, steady, shoot

The 2013 edition of the India Film Project will be held between September 20-28. Participants will be assigned a common theme based on which they will be required to script, shoot, edit and submit a film of five to eight minutes. Participants should send in their entries online. The project will also be open to international participants. The jury for the 2013 edition consists of D-Day maker Nikhil Advani and director-actor Tigmanshu Dhulia. The event will also consist of a five-day film festival from September 23 in Ahmedabad, including workshops on sound, music, cinematography, film packaging, publicity design and a masterclass on editing. Participants can register at www.indiafilmproject.co.